Karnov(カルノフ,Karunofu
?) is a 1987platformarcade game developed and published by Data East. It is the debut
appearance of Data East's mascot of the same name. After Data East
became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon bought the rights to this game[1],
along with a few other Data East games, which Paon is comprised
with former Data East staff.

Contents

History

Karnov's full name is Jinborov Karnovski (ジンボロフ・カルノフスキー
?). He was originally based on a
middle-ages legend, Karnov the Firespitter. According to the myth,
Scottish villagers would call forth Karnov to chase gypsies from
the area. The legend stated that Karnov would use his fire breath
to burn gypsy wagons and eat their babies as food.[2][3]

Gameplay

The game puts the bulging muscled, fire-breathing, ex-circus strongman east-Russian
hero on a quest through nine different levels to search for
treasures. However, between him and the treasures were several
horrendous monsters, including sword wielding monks, jinn, foot hopping giant fish and
ostrich-riding skeleton warriors.

Players can make Karnov walk, jump and shoot his way through
these levels and find special items that will help him on his way.
He also can collect red orbs with which he can upgrade up to three
fireballs at a time. Each level contains a variety of strange
enemies, such as gargoyles, rock creatures, and strong men,
which Karnov must destroy or avoid. When he reaches the end of a
level he usually has to face one or more powerful enemies which he
must defeat to beat the level and receive a new piece of a treasure
map. At the end of the game he must face a powerful boss often
called "The Wizard" and collect the treasure.

Special
Items

In each level Karnov can collect a variety of items along the
way, which can be chosen right away or only at certain times. The
items Karnov can use at any time are:

Jump Boots: Allow Karnov to run faster and jump much higher
temporarily.

Bomb: Destroys enemies and some floors and walls which can lead
to hidden areas.

Ladder: Used to reach high places.

Boomerang: Powerful throwing weapon that destroys most enemies
in one hit and can be retrieved after being thrown.

Super Fireball: 30 fireballs that destroy most enemies in one
hit.

The items that are activated in special zones of levels are:

Wings: Allow Karnov to fly for a limited amount of time.

Scuba Helmet: Is used only in the fifth level (sea). Allows
Karnov to swim faster in water.

Mask: It will flash and a noise will sound where it can be used
to receive a cache of hidden items.

Trolley: Karnov can ride through and destroy ground
enemies.

Miscellaneous items:

Red Orb: Increase the firepower of Karnov, letting him spit
more than one fireball at a time, with a maximum of three.

Letter K: Although not really a special item, if Karnov
collects 50 of these, he will earn an extra life.

Ports

Famicom/NES Version
differences

Karnov was released for the Famicom on December 18, 1987 in
Japan, and a year later on its North American equivalent, the NES,
in 1988. Although it plays very similarly to the original arcade
game there are some noticeable differences:

Karnov takes two hits to die instead of just one. After being
hit once he will turn a blue color in which he has one hit left or
can gain an extra hit back by grabbing a blue fireball orb.

The Super Fireball is replaced with the Spike Bomb which
destroys every enemy on screen. The Trolley item is replaced with
the Shield which is used to reflect an enemies fireballs.

Levels 4 and 8 are completely different from the arcade
levels.

The final boss is no longer the Wizard, but a giant
three-headed dragon by the name of Ryu. Both fights, however, take
place in similar rooms.

There are also non-game play differences between the Famicom and
NES versions. The Famicom provides a story throughout the entire
game, complete with images. The NES game does not have such a
feature. The Famicom game is also considerably more difficult since
it does not allow the player to continue after all lives are lost.
The NES game, however, provides unlimited continues. The NES game
also allowed Karnov to be killed when both the A and B buttons were
pressed on the second controller.

Reception

The MS-DOS version of the game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon
#142 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of
Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 1/2 out of 5
stars.[4]

Other
appearances in media

Video
games

Aside from being featured in the various ports of the original
Karnov game and the Fighter's History games, he
has found his way in several Data East and other gaming titles,
usually as an enemy:

In Garyo Retsuden, only released in Japan, Karnov is featured as a regular
enemy.

In Bad Dudes Vs.
DragonNinja, he is featured as the first level's boss. A
slightly different rendition of the boss music is used when
fighting him, which contains the familiar melody from the original
Karnov game. A grey version of Karnov appears later in the
game. According to the credits sequence of DragonNinja (the
Japanese version of Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja), this version of
Karnov is called Kusamoci Karnov.

In Trio The Punch - Never Forget Me...,
which was only released in Japan, features several different enemy
renditions of Karnov. Some of these bizarre takes are of enormous
stone statues and even mini versions of him.

Although not a direct cameo, the guard boss from the Gaelco game, Big Karnak, is
almost identical to Karnov's and Kusamoci Karnov's sprites from
Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja.

In March and June 2006, Karnov once again appeared as the
subject of Something Awful updates. "The Karnov Playsets" (1 and 2)
included short clips featuring Karnov in a variety of surreal and
nonsensical settings. [2] and [3]